Information indexing and retrieval system and apparatus

ABSTRACT

An information storage and retrieval system and apparatus therefor are disclosed which preferably includes, a microfilm storage media with information pieces recorded on such media at predetermined locations, and a plurality of retrieval cards, each formed to be superimposed over the film in indexed relation thereto and each formed with an opening in the body thereof in a location in each such card so that information stored in the film which relates to the particular card used is located by the opening in the card upon superimposition with the film. Indicia may be provided on the cards to assist in location of the information piece relating to each card. Alternate card and film constructions as well as magnification and display apparatus for retrieval of information stored on the microfilm are provided.

United States Patent Armand L. De Plzml lnventor Greenbrae, Calif. Appl.No. 863,660 Filed Oct. 3, 1969 Patented Jan. 4, 1972 Assignee l-InfoCorporation INFORMATION INDEXING AND RETRIEVAL 3,512,130 5/1970 Hulett.i

Primary Examiner-Leonard Forman Assistant Examiner-Steven L. StephanAttorneyWarrcn, Rubin, Brucker & Chickering ABSTRACT: An informationstorage and retrieval system and apparatus therefor are disclosed whichpreferably includes, a microfilm storage media with information piecesrecorded on such media at predetermined locations, and a plurality ofretrieval cards, each formed to be superimposed over the film in indexedrelation thereto and each formed with an opening in the body thereof ina location in each such card so that information stored in the filmwhich relates to the particular card used is located by the opening inthe card upon superimposition with the film. lndicia may be provided onthe cards to assist in location of the information piece relating toeach card. Alternate card and film constructions as well asmagnification and display apparatus for retrieval of information storedon the microfilm are provided.

PATENTED JAN 4 i972 SHEET 1 [IF 2 Fig. 5

INVENTOR.

rmand L. D

A Pizza! M, flk, & i

Attorneys PATENTEDJMI 4m:

SHEET 2 [1F 2 Fig.

NATIONAL CREDIT CARD ACME Z41 JOHN R DOE I INVENTOR.

Armand L. De Pizza! wm 7 Attorneys Fig.3

INFORMATION INDEXING AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM AND APPARATUS BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION The information indexing and retrieval system of thepresent invention relates in general to systems for storing andselectively retrieving pieces of information, and more particularly,relates to systems for the verification of documents such as creditcards, checks, licenses, permits and the like as to their ownership,credit standing or related information.

In many business situations commonly encountered in today s economythere exists a need for verifying the accuracy of documents orinstruments of commerce. A wellknown example is the problem ofdetermining whether or not to extend credit to a credit card holder.Under present practices millions of dollars are lost each year as aresult of the fraudulent use of lost or stolen credit cards. Anotherserious problem in the extension of credit which commonly occurs is thecredit card holders excessive use of his credit privilege. Thus, once acredit card is placed in the debtors hands, he may use the card soextensively as to go beyond the limit of the credit which the lendinginstitution is willing to lend.

The problems encountered in controlling the use of credit cards apply inmany other situations. For example, problems in cashing checks can bequite similar. Moreover, the verification of a license, permit oridentification card may create analogous problems. Most of theseproblems are further complicated by the fact that verification ofidentity, credit limits, etc., must be accomplished at a point which isremote from the card issuing authority or central clearing house ofinformation with regard to the document or instrument involved. Forexample, when a credit card is lost or stolen and reported to thelender, the central branch of the lender must disseminate thisinformation to the many remote areas in which the credit card may beused. While it is possible for each remote area to check with thecentral area on each transaction, this approach is highly time consumingand expensive and would tend to defeat the convenience advantageattendant to the use of credit cards. Accordingly, it is presentpractice merely to accept a certain percentage loss as part of theoperation of a credit card system.

One approach to the solution of the above noted problems has beenthrough the use of document verification systems which include thecomparison of signatures, photographs or fingerprints. Such systems havebeen used with varying degrees of success. They do not afford, however,the advantages which accrue from being able to retrieve informationother than the identification of the instrument holder. Another approachhas been to employ a computer with remote terminals. This approachcertainly has the advantage of having an almost unlimited amount ofinformation which may be rapidly retrieved and considered at remoteareas. The cost of operation of such a system, however, becomesprohibitive as the number of remote areas increases.

Recent developments in the recording of information on microfilm haveresulted in a significant improvement of microfilm as a storage mediafor information. Early microfilm had a capability of reducinginformation at a reduction ratio of about to one. Subsequently processeshave been evolved in which reduction of as high as 150 to one haveachieved. This highreduction microfilm is generally referred to asmicrofiche (when the reduction ratio is in excess of about 100 to onethe microfiche is also referred to as HR- fiche) and that term will beused throughout this application to describe microfilms having arelatively highreduction ratio.

While this new increase in the storage capacity of microfilm createdobvious advantages, the rapid retrieval of information remained aproblem. Most microfilm readers scan successive characters or pieces ofinformation placed on the microfilm. Thus, in a manner similar tocomputers using tapes, it was necessary to scan a very substantial massof information prior to retrieving the predetermined information bit.While this problem can be overcome by the use of sophisticated and highspeed equipment, it is not readily solved in an inexpensive manner whichis suitable for widespread use.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asystem and apparatus for the storage and retrieval of selected pieces ofinformation by means of inexpensive equipment which can be operated bynontechnical personnel at a large number of separate locations.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an informationstorage and retrieval system which is easily and inexpensively updatablein order that the users of this system remote from the centralinformation clearing house may be kept constantly up to date.

It is further an object of the present invention to provide aninfonnation storage and retrieval apparatus and system which will allowthe rapid verification of a variety of types of instruments and theretrieval of information relative to very large numbers of suchinstruments.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an informationstorage and retrieval system which is compact, easy to manufacture anduse, and may be easily adapted for use with existing commercially usedinstruments and documents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The information storage and retrieval system ofthe present invention is comprised, briefly, of an information storagemedium on which information pieces are distributed in predeterminedfixed locations, and an information retrieval card formed for indexingrelative to the storage medium, the card being further formed with alocator means formed and positioned in the card in order to allowisolated consideration and retrieval of information from a predeterminedportion of the storage medium. The storage medium is preferablymicrofilm on which a multiplicity of characters or information piecesare positioned. The card preferably includes an opening or markingphysically positioned on the card so as to be superimposed over apredetermined area of the film when the card and film are placed inindexed relation. If credit cards with openings therein are used, theperipheral edge of the credit card may be used to index the cardrelative to a microfiche film, and the openings on any card may bevaried slightly over the area of the card in order to direct the user todifferent areas of the microfiche which correspond to the differentcards. The limited area confined by the locator opening can then bemagnified for ease of reading, and the information on the microfiche canbe displayed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a plan view of a credit cardconstructed in accordance with the present invention to function as aninformation retrieval card.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a microfilm information storage mediaconstructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view of that portion of the microfilmindicated in FIG. 2 as the area bounded by line 3- 3.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view of that portion of the area of themicrofilm indicated in FIG. 3 as the area bounded by line 4-4.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a magnification system constructed inaccordance with the present invention and illustrating a plurality ofretrieval card and storage medium configurations.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an apparatus suitable for use in themanipulation of the retrieval card and storage medium and themagnification apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1-4, atypical retrieval card and storage medium constructed in accordance withthe present invention are illustrated. The retrieval card, generallydesignated 21, is here illustrated as a national credit card of the typetypically distributed by oil companies, banks and large departmentstores. Credit card 21 is formed in a standard manner having a card body22 on which such information as the name of the card holder and thecompany which issued the card appears.

, Typically these cards also have certain terms and conditions inscribedon the back side thereof. In addition, the card body is preferablyformed from a plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride which may havethe card holders name embossed thereon as well as coded indiciagenerally designated 23 also embossed on the card. As thus fardescribed, the retrieval card has the same construction as the standardcredit card. As will also be appreciated, other information may beembossed or printed upon the card such as the date through which thecard may be used.

FIG. 2 illustrates a microfilm sheet 26 which acts as a storage mediumhaving characters or pieces of information recorded thereon in fields27. This may better be seen by reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, which aresuccessive enlarged fragmentary views. In FIG. 3 fields 27 may be seento be broken down into subfields or smaller divisions of information 28,and each subfield 28 may be seen in FIG. 4 to be comprised of aplurality of numbers 29 and, in some instances, symbols 31. As hereillustrated, the microfilm would be commonly referred to as microfichein light of the relatively high reduction of the information recorded insubfields 28.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the use of retrieval card 21 withmicrofiche sheet 26 can now be explained. In a typical credit cardsystem there are, of course, a very large number of cards in order toaccommodate the large number of consumers of the products in connectionwith which the credit cards are issued. Each card has indicia 23 whichare peculiarly related to the individual card in order that the accountof that card holder may be segregated from the accounts of all othercard holders. In the present system retrieval card 21 is formed with anopening 24 therein. The opening 24 is positioned in the card body at apredetermined location from the peripheral edges 36 and 37 of the card.The location of opening 24 is determined by horizontal dimension A andvertical dimension B, and the dimensions A and B vary throughout thetotal number of cards in a manner which is related to the specific cardand the account against which charges are to be made. As will beexplained more fully in detail hereinafter, more than one card may havethe same A and B dimensions, although these dimensions will varyconsiderably when a large number of cards are issued. Thus, in thenormal system opening 24 may appear at substantially any position withinthe area bounded by phantom line 38 in FIG. 1.

Use of the credit card and microfiche of FIGS. 1-4 can be described asfollows. If the credit card is one put out by the oil company, forexample, the oil company will prepare the master microfiche sheets 26 onwhich the numbers and symbols of FIG. 4 are recorded at a very highreduction. Lets assume further that the only information which the oilcompany wants to keep its dealers appraised of on a current basis iswhether or not a card is lost or stolen, if the customer has a very goodcredit rating and can use this card for purchases in excess of $100, andwhether or not the operator should call the central office for furtherinformation concerning the card holder. These three conditions are, ofcourse, only exemplary of the types of information which may beretrieved with the system and apparatus of the present invention.Considering FIG. 4 one of the subfields 28 may be seen to have theletter C in its upper left hand corner with numbers 29 being recorded insequence from left to right in rows of 20 numbers. Each numberrepresents an account in the C subfield. In normal situations mostaccounts will not be accounts in which cards have been stolen or lost,exceptional credit lines are justified, or a call to the central creditfacility is necessary. Accordingly, these accounts merely appear asnumbers without any symbols next to them. Accounts numbers 3 and 84,however, have a circular symbol superimposed on them. This will, by wayof example, stand for a lost or stolen card. Account number 100 in the Bsubfield is also circled. Account number 46 in the C subfield has asquare superimposed on it, which symbol stands for an instruction totelephone the central credit facility. Account number 43 has a trianglewhich indicates that credit in excess of may be extended to thisaccount. It is also possible and often advantageous to use color codingin addi tion to symbols in order to extend the information which can beconveniently stored in the microfiche. Present microfiche printingsystems exist which will allow the color printing of master microfichefilm.

The microfiche sheet 26 on which the information illustrated in FIG. 4is recorded is sheet number 5, as may be seen in FIG. 2 in the lowerleft hand corner of the sheet. Under presently developed techniques forprinting microfiche sheets, it is possible to print a sheet or set ofsheets having hundreds of thousands of accounts thereon for a fractionof a cent. Accordingly, -the oil company would arrange for the printingof microfiche sheets and dissemination of these master sheets to eachand every commercial outlet at which its products are sold. The cost ofundertaking such a printing and dissemination is very modest bycomparison, for example, to the present cost of losses due to aninability to adequately control the use of credit cards at the remotecommercial outlets. Accordingly, the gas station dealer would receive aset of master microfiche sheets 26, which as here illustrated wouldconsist of at least five microfiche master sheets. The distributor mustfurther be provided with a magnification apparatus, hereinafterdescribed, in order that the microfiche masters may be read. The creditcard company would then issue credit cards having openings 24 thereinwhich are positioned relative to peripheral edges 36 and 37 of thecredit card in a predetermined location.

When the customer comes into the commercial outlet to purchase products,the operator of the outlet will take the card 21 for the purpose ofdetermining whether or not credit should be extended. This operation, ofcourse, may also occur after the purchase of products. The operator willthen look at the first two numbers in the embossed indicia 23, which are0.5."This indicates to the operator that sheet number 5 of the mastermicrofiche sheets should be employed. The operator then superimposes thecard 21 over the sheet 26 with the peripheral edges 36 and 37 beingbrought into alignment with peripheral edges 41 and 42 of sheet 26. Thisstep indexes the retrieval card relative to the microfiche sheet 26. Theoperator then, through the use of the magnification system hereinafterdescribed, observes through opening 24 that portion of the mastermicrofiche sheet number 5 which is circled in FIGS. 2 and 3 as viewingarea 51. A portion of viewing area 51 is enlarged and shownsubstantially as it would be displayed in FIG. 4. The operator thenlooks at the last set of indicia 23 on the card and sees the letter Cand the number 3. This indicates that the operator should look insubfield C at account number 3. Thus, as best seen in FIG. 3, area 51may include portions of other subfields, such as subfield B and subfieldD and may include more than one number 3, the operator can easily referonly to the account in the lettered subfield which appears on the creditcard indicia 23. In this instance, account number C 3 is circledindicating that the card is stolen or lost and therefore is beingimproperly used. The operator should, therefore, not extend credit tothis card holder and preferably attempt to obtain the identity of thecard holder of the purpose of apprehension. Thus, through the use of thecredit card and microfiche system of the present invention a relativelyunskilled operator may rapidly retrieve certain limited or symbolicinformation concerning one of hundreds of thousands of accounts.Moreover, the central credit facility can update the master microfichecards economically at very short time intervals, for example, a day orless. Still further, the retrieval of selected information from hundredsof thousands of accounts can be accomplished through the use of a simplemagnification system.

As will be understood, opening 24 at coordinate position A, B in thecredit card will suffice for a substantial number of cards, since theviewing area 51 encompasses a substantial number of numbers in field C.Accordingly, 50 or more cards of reduction of the microfiche willdetermine the number of accounts which can conveniently have the samecoordinates for opening 24. As illustrated in FIG. 3, field 51 can beseen to be moved to the left of the center of subfield C; however, thearea viewed in 51 is still large enough to insure that the first 50accounts in subfield C will be within area 51. Thus, slight misalignmentin the superimposition of card 21 and sheet 26 or the placement ofopening 24, will still not result in area 51 being displaced laterallyfrom the desired predetermined position to an extent which will preventviewing of the desired account number. Accordingly, area 51 is selectedto always include the desired account numbers while taking intoconsideration the normally encountered deviations in alignment of theretrieval card and microfiche and any inaccuracy in the location opening24.

In order to provide for the retrieval of information from the mastermicrofiche sheets of the present invention, it is quite possible andoften desirable to form retrieval card 21 in a number of matters otherthan that hereinabove described. For example, instead of an opening 24in card body 21, the area 51 which was defined by opening 24 can bedefined by a line or marking 24, such as a light or dark dot or circle.The transparent microfiche sheet 26 is then superimposed over card 21with the line or circular marking 24 being visible underneath a portionof microfiche sheet 26. Thus, the marking or circular area 51 would be abackground defining area 51 in which the operator would look for theappropriate account number. Still further, the marking might be providedin a transparent insert in the card. Thus a transparent insert in cardbody 22 having a circular line 24 inscribed therein could be used withthe card 21 being superimposed over microfiche sheet 26.

As hereinabove described the retrieval card of the present invention hasbeen illustrated as a gasoline credit card. As will be readilyunderstood, the credit card can be used for other merchandise. Moreover,an important additional use of the card might be as an identificationcard for the purpose of cashing checks. Supermarkets are presentlyencountering substantial pressure to offer a check cashing service inconnection with purchase of their goods. One approach to the renderingof this service has been to have each store keep elaborate files as tothe customers in their area and to whom they will extend this checkcashing privilege. This requires personnel at each store and does notgive the flexibility of a store-tostore check cashing system.Accordingly, an identification card constructed in accordance with thepresent invention to act as an information retrieval card for mastermicrofiche film sheets could be used in order to determine whichcustomers may cash checks and for what amount they may be cashed.

The retrieval card need not necessarily be in the form of a credit cardor similarly shaped identification card. The information retrievalsystem of the present invention may be advantageously used in suchapplications as banking systems with the retrieval cards being comprisedof the individuals checks. Each check might have an opening or markingphysically positioned therein which corresponds to his account, as setforth on a master microfiche sheet. Accordingly, the check itself mightbe overlayed on a master microfiche sheet prior to cashing. This systemmight be used at bank branches or even at other commercialestablishments which the bank provides with master microfiche sheets.

The remaining indicia 23, namely the numbers 971 8144, can be for use bythe card issuing authority or the central credit facility of theorganization. If the account has been marked for a call to the centralcredit facility, as is the case for account number C 46, the centralcredit facility eight have stored even more detailed informationconcerning account C 46 on a microfiche sheet of the same general typeas sheet 26. Therefore the remaining indicia might be used to enable thecentral credit facility to go to a specific master microfiche sheet andlocate the proper field and subfield without the use of the credit card,which would not be available to the central facility at the time ofreceiving the phone call. The retail operator upon discovering a signalto call the central facility would do so and indicate the full indicia23 in order that the central facility might go to its master microfichesheets and, through the use of the coordinates indicated in indicia 23,extract detailed information concerning the account.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, magnification and card and sheetmanipulation apparatus are illustrated, as are further variations of theconstruction of the retrieval card in microfiche information storagefilm. In FIG. 5 on the left hand portion of the figures are illustratedfour retrieval cards, namely, cards 21, 21a-21c. Cards 21 and 21a areconstructed essentially as illustrated in FIG. 1. Cards 21b and 21cillustrate the use of an opening plus notches or other peripheralindentations 56-59. Peripheral notches or indentations 56-59 are usefulin aligning the card with the beam of light used in reading the mastermicrofiche sheet, as will be hereinafter set forth.

0n the right side of FIG. 5 are four master microfiche sheetconstructions designated 26, 26a-26c. Sheet 26 in FIG. 5 corresponds tosheet 26 in FIG. 2. Sheet 26a in FIG. 5 illustrates a construction whichis larger than the retrieval card and which has zones or areas definedby dotted lines 61. Thus, the zones or areas defined by the dotted linesare the same size as the sheet 26 and would be identified by a symbolsuch as numeral 5 in FIG. 2 which could be read by the operator. Theoperator would then place the retrieval card over that portion ofmicrofiche sheet 260 which corresponded to the number on the retrievalcard. Similarly, retrieval card 26b is divided into zones by dottedlines 62. Master microfiche sheet 26c is a'continuous roll havingcardsized zones defined by dotted lines 63. Each zone in sheets 26b and260 would similarly be provided with a number or the indicia readable bythe operator which would allow the operator to select a portion of themaster microfiche sheet over which the card 21 was to be aligned.

In order to provide for alignment or indexing of the retrieval card ofthe present invention and the master microfiche storage medium, it ispossible further to form the cards with indicia, such as lines oropenings or notches which correspond to the indicia (such as indicia61-63), openings or notches formed in the microfilm. For example, eachcard could be provided with two openings in the upper comers which wouldallow the card to be placed on two indexing pins (not shown). Thus,similar openings in the microfilm sheet could be provided, and the cardand sheet openings, rather than the peripheries of the respectivemembers, could be used as a means of aligning the card and film inrelative indexed relation.

In order to allow retrieval of information which is located by means ofthe retrieval card and master microfiche of the present invention, it ispreferable to provide an illumination and magnification system of thegeneral type illustrated in FIG. 5. The illumination system is comprisedof a light source 71 and beam focusing lens 72 which causes light beam73 to be focused substantially at position 74. Card 21 and microfiche 26are positioned generally at the focal point 74 of beam 73 in order thathigh intensity beam may pass through openings 24. The beam 73 is thencollected by lens 76 and magnified and projected on screen 77, which maybe of a standard ground glass construction for viewing from the frontside thereof. Thus, area 51 which is defined by opening 24 and includesnumerals 29 would be magnified and projected on screen 77 of asufficient size for viewing without the aid of further mechanicalapparatus.

As will be readily understood, other illumination and magnificationsystems are readily suited to the present invention. It is important tonote further, however, that relatively inexpensive lens systems can beemployed to illuminate and magnify the microfiche images notwithstandingthe very highreduction capability of the microfiche. While suchillumination and magnification systems are relatively expensive when inthe form of a microfiche reader which illuminates and magnifies anentire page of microfiche (since magnification of an entire pagerequires that the peripheral edges of the page not be distorted) thepresent system requires magnification of only a relatively small area ofthe microfiche, namely area 51. Accordingly, a lens which might causedistortion of the edges of a large area of microfiche is entirelyadequate for magnifying a small area of microfiche. It has been found,therefore, that illumination and magnification apparatus costing $20.00

or less per instrument may be entirely satisfactory in magnifying anddisplaying the area of the microfiche located by the retrieval card.

The illumination and magnification apparatus illustrated in FIG. isdesigned for use with cards having apertures, openings or transparentsections therein, which will allow the transmission of light through thearea of the opening or transparent section. If an outlined or markedarea is formed on an opaque portion of the card, an illumination andmagnification system must be employed which directs light from the frontside of the card rather than from the rear and through the card, asillustrated in FIG. 5. Such illumination systems are readily available.

In order to facilitate the manipulation of the card and microfiche filmto a position for projection of the area located by the retrieval card,apparatus of the type in FIG. 6 may be employed. The card and filmmanipulating device is comprised of a lower member 86 having a recess 87therein into which a master microfiche film sheet 26 may be positioned.The card 21 may be positioned in upper member 88 in the notched portionthereof. Upper and lower members are held in relative index andalignment by means of pins 91 and openings 92. A card placed in thenotched area 89 will be automatically aligned with microfiche film 26 inindexed relation thereto. The rack and pinions 96-99 may be used to movethe upper and lower members simultaneously in two directions along thefocal plane 74 until opening 24 is in front of the focus beam 73. Inorder to facilitate this adjustment of the combination of the card andfilm, notches 56 and 57 may be approximately aligned with the center ofbeam 73. Similarly, notches 58 and 59 may be used to align opening 24with beam 73. While the above described card and film manipulatingapparatus is advantageous, it has been found that the combination of thecard and film can be easily and readily manually oriented in the centerof beam 73 if placed upon a transparent table or surface locatedapproximately at the focal point of beam 73.

The pinions 97 and 99 could be mounted for rotation in a supportstructure which will cause the upper and lower members 88 and 86 to bedisplaced relative to the support structure in two directions uponrotation of the nobs 101 and 102. Such a support structure could includesleeves which would allow for axial movement of the shafts on which thepinions are mounted in order to accommodate the two way movement.

An important feature of the system and apparatus of the presentinvention is that it may be readily used with existing credit cardsystems. Existing credit cards can be easily modified to act asretrieval cards by simply forming an opening therein or providing amarking thereon in some selected predetermined physical location on thecard. Moreover, the existing code systems employed by most credit cardcompanies can be the basis for determining the physical location of theinformation on the microfiche and opening on the card. That is, thecoded indicia 23 whichpresently appears on most credit cards can be thebasis for a physical location system of both the opening and microficheinformation.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling the use ofa multiplicity of credit cards heldby a multiplicity of different users comprising the steps of:

a. preparing a microfiche film with selected credit card identifyingindicia photographically recorded thereon and having an indexing meansthereon, each of said selected credit card identifyin indicia beingositioned on said microfiche film in a ifferent area 0 predeterminedknown coordinates from said indexing means; preparing a plurality ofcopies of said microfiche film and distributing a copy of saidmicrofiche film to each of a plurality of separate credit extensionlocations;

c. distributing a credit card to each of said multiplicity of differentusers at locations remote from said credit extension locations, eachsaid credit card being formed with an indexing means and identifyingindicia thereon and each said credit card being further formed with atransparent locator section therein positioned in an area of said cardof predetermined known coordinates from said indexing means on saidcard;

. placing any one of said multiplicity of credit cards and a copy ofsaid microfiche film in optically superimposed relation at said creditextension location by positioning said indexing means on said creditcard and said indexing means on said microfiche film in fixedpredetermined relative position with the coordinates of said transparentlocator section determining the area of said microfiche film fixed inoptical superimposed relation to said locator section; and

e. projecting the identifying indicia recorded on said microfiche filmin the area optically superimposed with said transparent locator sectiononto a viewing surface for comparison with identifying indicia on saidcredit card while said credit card and said microfiche film remain insuperimposed relation.

2. A method of controlling the use of credit cards as defined in claim 1wherein,

said credit card is placed in superimposed relation over said microfichefilm with said identifying indicia facing up wardly for reading of saidindicia upon projection of the identifying indicia recorded on said filmand located by said transparent locator section.

3. A method of controlling the use of credit cards as defined in claim 1wherein,

said multiplicity of credit cards distributed to said users are furtherformed to be substantially opaque and said transparent section is formedas an opening in said card.

4. A method of controlling the use of credit cards as defined in claim 3wherein,

said projecting is achieved by moving the combination of said microfichefilm and said credit card, while maintaining said combination inrelative fixed relation, to a light source and projection lens, andaligning said opening in said card with said light source for projectionof light therethrough and through said microfiche film to saidprojection lens.

1. A method of controlling the use of a multiplicity of credit cardsheld by a multiplicity of different users comprising the steps of: a.preparing a microfiche film with selected credit card identifyingindicia photographically recorded thereon and having an indexing meansthereon, each of said selected credit card identifying indicia beingpositioned on said microfiche film in a different area of predeterminedknown coordinates from said indexing means; b. preparing a plurality ofcopies of said microfiche film and distributing a copy of saidmicrofiche film to each of a plurality of separate credit extensionlocations; c. distributing a credit card to each of said multiplicity ofdifferent users at locations remote from said credit extensionlocations, each said credit card being formed with an indexing means andidentifying indicia thereon and each said credit card being furtherformed with a transparent locator section therein positioned in an areaof said card of predetermined known coordinates from said indexing meanson said card; d. placing any one of said multiplicity of credit cardsand a copy of said microfiche film in optically superimposed relation atsaid credit extension location by positioning said indexing means onsaid credit card and said inDexing means on said microfiche film infixed predetermined relative position with the coordinates of saidtransparent locator section determining the area of said microfiche filmfixed in optical superimposed relation to said locator section; and e.projecting the identifying indicia recorded on said microfiche film inthe area optically superimposed with said transparent locator sectiononto a viewing surface for comparison with identifying indicia on saidcredit card while said credit card and said microfiche film remain insuperimposed relation.
 2. A method of controlling the use of creditcards as defined in claim 1 wherein, said credit card is placed insuperimposed relation over said microfiche film with said identifyingindicia facing upwardly for reading of said indicia upon projection ofthe identifying indicia recorded on said film and located by saidtransparent locator section.
 3. A method of controlling the use ofcredit cards as defined in claim 1 wherein, said multiplicity of creditcards distributed to said users are further formed to be substantiallyopaque and said transparent section is formed as an opening in saidcard.
 4. A method of controlling the use of credit cards as defined inclaim 3 wherein, said projecting is achieved by moving the combinationof said microfiche film and said credit card, while maintaining saidcombination in relative fixed relation, to a light source and projectionlens, and aligning said opening in said card with said light source forprojection of light therethrough and through said microfiche film tosaid projection lens.